Govt has recruited 70 thousand teachers on merit:Mujtaba Shujaa

Lahore: Punjab Minister for Education Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has said that more than 70 thousand teachers have been recruited on merit in a transparent manner for removing shortage of school teachers throughout the province. He said that 92% attendance of teachers and students and 96% availability of facilities and inspection of schools have been ensured whereas earlier, this ratio was 60% and 62 percent respectively.

While talking to delegations of party workers, Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that Punjab government has opened 50 colleges in the province during last four years, out of which 12 colleges are in Lahore. He said that record enrollment of more than 11 million children in government schools has been witnessed due to Punjab government’s developmental measures and the effective roadmap in education sector. The figure is more than one million in excess of the 2008 school census and is the result of Punjab government’s various measures including provision of teachers of science and mathematics, better facilities and free textbooks, he added. He said government is working hard to achieve 88 per cent literacy rate till 2015 so that to fulfill the international commitment under millennium development goals. He said that government is extending all out efforts to provide purposeful and professional modern education to the children to make them useful citizens. He said that in result of government efforts, there are some 118,000 children had been enrolled in schools raising total strength of students in Lahore public sector schools to 673,000.

Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that IT labs have been set up in more than 5000 high schools and 515 middle schools. He said that scholarships of ten billion rupees are being provided to thousands of students within the country and abroad from Endowment fund. He said that in result of government efforts, there are some 118,000 children had been enrolled in schools raising total strength of students in Lahore public sector schools to 673,000. The scholarships are being given to 50 thousand students from Punjab Education Endowment Fund this year, he concluded.